Earlylands in Conversation

Critical minerals have become the connective tissue of modern geopolitics, linking energy security, manufacturing, and great power competition in ways that didn't exist a decade ago. Christopher Vandome leads the Critical Minerals Initiative at Chatham House, the London-based foreign policy think tank, where he's also a senior research fellow with both the Global Economy and Finance Progra...

The critical minerals story in Africa is typically told through the lens of geology, geopolitics, and finance. Rarely does anyone talk about the unglamorous reality that sits between the mine and the market: the roads, the trucks, the borders, and the sheer logistical challenge of moving product across some of the world's most difficult operating environments. Clementine James knows that reali...

Throughout the course of the over four-year full-scale war in Ukraine, one of the most respected Western media outlets covering the conflict has been the Financial Times . The core ofthe FT's coverage has been provided by its Kyiv-based correspondent Chris Miller. Chris has lived and worked in Ukraine since 2010, when he was a Peace Corps volunteer in eastern Ukraine. The country is clearly in his...

For this episode, we are joined by award-winning historian and author Tim Bouverie. Tim has recently received widespread acclaim for his book Allies at War , which some listeners may have spotted prominently positioned beside Prime Minister Netanyahu in the now widely circulated photograph of the Israeli leader speaking with President Trump on the night of the first military strikes on Iran. The b...

We’ve spent multiple episodes discussing the Ukrainian perspective on Russia’s brutal war. For this episode we shift our focus to a look at how the average Russian views not only the war, but more broadly life in Putin’s autocratic state. Our guest is the journalist Howard Amos, whose book Russia Starts Here: Real Lives in the Ruins of Empire , tries to understand life in modern Russia not by look...

For this episode of the podcast we go back to Ukraine. Our guest today sets a new standard for what a highly intelligent, motivated, and deeply patriotic young person can do. Although only 25-years old, Maryna Hrytsenko has established herself as one of the leading advocates for Ukraine and its military in the global halls of power. She is a co-founder of the Snake Island Institute (SII), which in...

For this episode of the podcast we turn our attention back to Africa and roll back the clock to the 19th century. Our guest today is Professor Richard Reid of St. Cross College, Oxford. Richard is a specialist in 19th and 20th century African history and author of the 2025 book The African Revolution: A History of the Long Nineteenth Century. In the book, Richard makes the case for a new lens thro...

Today's episode is out of cycle, but as the issues under discussion are the very essence of timely, we wanted to bring them to you as soon as possible. Our conversation is with Bloomberg Global Defense Editor Gerry Doyle. Gerry is at the forefront of coverage of the wars in Iran and Ukraine and much else around the world when it comes to defense and security. We go deep on key trends and lesso...

The world of air travel is unquestionably a modern marvel, yet it is also highly complex and brutally competitive. And now, in this period of skyrocketing fuel prices and global hubs shut down because of the spiralling conflict in the Gulf, the sheer difficulty of running a global airline is in sharp focus. Our guest today is well placed to give us insight into this fascinating world. Allan Kilavu...

"If you want to understand October 7th, if you want to understand what's happening in current politics in much of the Middle East, certainly in Iran, then the only place to start is the 1970s.” - The Guardian's Jason Burke Since our last episode, a new conflict has begun in Iran with ramifications not only for the broader Middle East but forthe entire world. We are very fortunate that...

For this episode we turn our attention back to the ever-evolving topic of European security. Rather than focusing on developments in Ukraine, we instead take a detailed look at the troubling state of the British Army, traditionally one of Europe’s most capable fighting forces and also one that is likely to play a leading role in any European stabilization force in Ukraine. Our guest today is Briga...

Thousands of people are descending on Cape Town this week for the annual Mining Indaba, one of the industry’s largest annual global gatherings. I doubt any of them would arguewith the assertion that politics, whether it be geopolitics or national level issues, is one of the driving forces impacting the industry. And, while playing host to the Indaba, South Africa is also one country where politics...

“Critical minerals” – a phrase that we hear nearly every day yet one that is too often used with little explanation.  What exactly are critical minerals, where are they found, and why are they so “critical?"    We are joined for this episode by someone who is uniquely well-equipped to help us answer these and many other questions. Journalist Ernest Scheyder is the author of the award-winning book...

2026 has started with a proverbial bang, with the hard realities of military force brought squarely into the headlines with the US operation to seize Nicholas Maduro. And, of course, the grinding war of attrition continues in Ukraine as do conflicts in countries as varied as Sudan and Myanmar. While so much of the media coverage of these wars focuses on the role of technology and the apparent vide...

"Orwell himself has become what academics would call a floating signifier. He's escaped from his original grounding like a hot air balloon and gone floating off across the landscapes of the world. And he means virtually anything that anybody wants him to mean." DJ Taylor on the legacy of George Orwell As we close out 2025, a year that has undoubtedly been one of the most consequential in recent me...

The release earlier this month of the Trump administration's new National Security Strategy vividly captures the tectonic shifts that are occurring in global affairs. For many observers of the international order, it can feel as if there is no framework or structure to the chaotic period in which we are living. If that opinion resonates with you, then today's guest may be able to offer an analytic...

Ethiopia is one of the most consequential states on the African continent. With more than 130 million people, one of the largest armies in Africa, and a critical role as a supplier of low-cost power, developments in Ethiopia reverberate far beyond its borders. At the center of the country’s contemporary story is its prime minister, Abiy Ahmed. For this episode we welcome Tom Gardner, The Economist...

South Africa this month is hosting the G20 summit in Johannesburg, an opportunity for the government of Cyril Ramaphosa to shift the focus from a steady drumbeat of news about the country's highly contentious relations with the US. We are very fortunate to be joined for this episode by prominent analyst of South Africa, Dr. Terence McNamee. Terence published this month in the Christian Science Mon...

For episode 15 we welcome Perry Boyle, who has fast established himself as one of the most prominent Western investors – via his firm MITS Capital – in Ukraine’s burgeoning defense industry. Ukrainian defense technology, whether it be highly capable yet low-cost unmanned aerial and ground systems to path-breaking electronic warfare products, isgrabbing the attention of Western investors and highli...

Christian-Geraud Neema is one of the foremost commentators on the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Today we’re excited to discuss with him the DRC's always fascinating and often vexing politics. Geraud wears many hats, including serving as Africa Editor of the China-Global South Project and as a nonresident scholar in the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace’s Africa Program. A techni...

"When Putin was a student in the KGB university, he was perfect in a subject called 'verbovka.' In Russian, that means recruiting new agents. So he's perfect in manipulation of people." -Former Latvian President Valdis Zatlers President Valdis Zatlers served as Latvia’s head of state from 2007-2011, a period that coincided with the global financial crisis that hit Latvia arguably harder than any c...

In episode 12 we look at the Baltic region, which has repeatedly been in the headlines of late as it sits on the frontline of NATO’s physical and rhetorical face-off with Russia. Just a few days ago, Russian military aircraft penetrated Estonian airspace for 12 minutes, in yet another challenge to the Western defense alliance. We are extremely fortunate to have with us Oliver Moody, who is the Tim...

The headlines regarding Africa’s infrastructure needs are ever-present, whether it be the requirement to serve the continent’s rapidly growing cities or construction of export routes for Africa’s minerals. Core to all of these needs is provision of reliable baseload electricity. There are very few companies as advanced in their project pipeline and as committed to Africa’s long-term development as...

Harvard historian Danielle Leavitt's recently published "By the Second Spring" provides a harrowing look at the impact of Russia's war on the lives of seven ordinary Ukrainians. Noted scholar Lawrence Freedman says, "Leavitt uses the individual stories to showcase Ukrainian resilience and resistance...with empathy, candor, and a cautious optimism for Ukraine’s future." Join us for a fascinating di...

Judd Devermont is unquestionably one of the US’s leading policy practitioners and experts on Africa. His experience ranges from the White House (President Biden's senior Africa advisor) to the CIA (senior political analyst) and many points in between. Not only has he had a ringside seat at the making of US-Africa policy, but he's also a historian who has undertaken fascinating studies looking at h...